by Angela White
Marc controlled his outrage. He would deal with Angie later.
“Can I listen in on that?” Adrian asked, suddenly worried. “I don’t know where she sent Conner either.”
Silence fell for a moment and then Marc shrugged angrily. “You will anyway.”
Adrian wisely didn’t agree.
“We should see a mark any time now,” Kenn said, reading from his envelope. “Should be a–”
“There she is,” Marc told them, pointing to nothing that any of them could make out. “Park under that tree. We’ll have a smoke while we unload.”
They knew that meant Marc wanted to spend a minute checking out the area and verifying Samantha was okay. None of them had been happy to discover who their contact was upon opening the next instructions at dawn. The idea of a woman out here alone, pregnant with twins, didn’t set well with them.
Marc snorted. “I should have known better. She has two Eagles guarding. Sam doesn’t know about them. We’re all good.”
“You know where she is?” Kenn asked. He was searching for the blind that Sam would have been instructed to set up, but he couldn’t spot it.
“She used the training in lesson Five C,” Adrian approved, easily spotting her once he remembered her preference for heights. “Though, how she got that blind to stay there, I don’t know. Tell Angie I’d bump her a full level for it.”
Marc climbed into the backseat. “Angie already knows how good Sam is, otherwise she wouldn’t have sent her out here alone.”
“But she’s not.”
Marc scowled at Kenn. “Don’t you ever tell her she wasn’t. You hear me?”
Kenn nodded, not about to fight over something like this when he couldn’t care less.
“Good,” Marc answered the thought. “Let’s go.”
“Where to next?” Kenn asked, taking point.
“East for a mile. Charlie and Becky are waiting for us there.”
“For what?” Kenn wanted to know.
Marc didn’t answer. He couldn’t. He had no idea what the pair was doing. He wouldn’t unless they were allowed to tell him. It was scary, maddening.
“I know what they’re doing,” Adrian stated. “She didn’t say that I couldn’t tell you.”
Marc was aware that Adrian was using this instance to cause trouble. “Spill it, then.”
Kenn moved them into a grassy area with a thick tree cover, and only listened with half an ear. Neither Charlie nor Becky interested him very much. They were walking over piles of stones that hadn’t been cleared from these hiking paths since the war, sometimes climbing over full trees that had come down. Nature had piled up here. It would make it harder on the soldiers who had to come in after them. Kenn wanted a better vantage point to determine if any of those men might be close yet.
“As this fight goes on, we’ll be hearing stories and rumors of groups of renegade people who aren’t following orders. Instead, they’re attacking soldiers, taking out patrols and perimeter camps.”
“And the kids are providing support, right? Lookouts or something,” Marc insisted angrily. He knew better, but hated to accept it.
“She sent them out here to hunt, to kill.”
“You knew!” Marc growled, turning to slam his fist into Adrian’s jaw.
Adrian let himself fall backward to be splayed out on the dirt and rocks. He stayed down. “Worse than that. She took it directly from one of my notebooks.”
“You gave her this idea?!”
“Yes.” Adrian frowned. “And this is one of the nicer plans.”
“Do I want to know the others?” Marc asked grouchily, calming down a bit.
“Spies, traitors, and killers are how you quickly win a war,” Adrian stated what they already knew in an ominous tone. “Do those things with children and you could conquer the world in a month.”
Marc’s resolve to remain calm vanished and he used his mind to register his complaints.
Angie!
Yes, dear?
What the hell is wrong with you?
I don’t have time to give you that list.
How could you do this?
How could I not? You wouldn’t.
It’s barbaric! Who are you?!
It’s survival. Why don’t you know that?
Adrian swept Marc’s face, seeing he was delivering blows and receiving them. The blond man grinned. “Gonna be a good evening.”
Shots rang out ahead and all of them broke into a run.
“They’re all dead.”
Marc and Adrian swept the dim scene with expressionless faces as Kenn moved to a higher vantage point. They’d heard gunshots and came in a run. Someone else could have done the same.
Charlie stripped the nearest body of its gun, mags, knife, and vest, dropping it all into the rucksack that Becky was carrying. Both of their faces were flushed, not pale like the adults had expected. No one spoke.
Becky shoved the rifle further into the bag to make room for a second vest and quickly shut it before opening a new bag. “We’ve got two other stashes of gear like this so far. Our instructions said not to tell anyone except senior men,” Becky told Marc. “You can add this one yourself.”
She handed Marc the paper, ignoring Adrian’s careful nod.
It was the only response Adrian could form at the moment. He’d never thought to find Becky so calm amid death. He was waiting to discover if she’d participated. Marc was currently replaying the battle in his mind.
As they left, Adrian hoped to get him to tell what had happened. Had Becky done her share?
“More than her share.” Marc’s tone was choked with horror. “She led this assault. She likes to back-shoot.”
Marc waved Kenn down to take his place, fighting to keep himself under control. Angela was more ruthless than he’d ever thought her capable of.
Charlie and Becky continued to loot. There were ten bodies and several tents to explore, and then the vehicles under the camouflage netting had to be disabled, since none of the Eagles here had time to drive them back to camp. Their plans were all based on following rules. They wouldn’t deviate, even for two Humvees and a crate of grenades. Those, the entire group loaded up on. Kenn knew to grab a share of them for Marc, who was staying on sentry duty.
Kenn asked the obvious. “Will this really make the difference? Having kids out here playing war like it’s a movie?”
Adrian, who now had more hope than when he’d woken, nodded slowly. “If she’s got enough little side plans like this going, yeah, it could. They won’t be expecting this.”
Kenn scowled, lowering his voice so that only Adrian could hear. He often forgot about the mental abilities the descendants had. “Isn’t it all wrong?”
“More than I can say,” Adrian responded gravely. “And it’s also exactly right. It’s their future that will be gone if we lose. If they fight with us, they’ll care about that future when it comes time to rebuild it.”
Kenn couldn’t understand how something so wrong could also be right, but didn’t say anything else. Even when he’d been beating his wife or scheming against someone, he’d known it was wrong. How could this be okay?
“It isn’t, you douche,” Charlie responded, but without anger. His glimpses into Kenn’s dark mind had explained a lot. “It’s what keeps us alive, gives us a chance.”
“And some of us need this release,” Becky added, calmer now.
“What happens after the war, little girl?” Adrian asked. “When the killing has to stop?”
Becky stilled, thinking hard. She finally turned to them with dead eyes.
“I probably won’t be here then,” she stated emotionlessly. “That’s someone else’s problem.”
Adrian and Kenn pulled a face, but Charlie understood what she meant. They had the same plans for the future, the same instructions to follow, and they would, no matter what. The only way the soldiers would go past Angela’s second ring of death was if they thought part of her army was made up of women and children. So it
was. Angela didn’t bluff.
Chapter Ten
Disguises and Reprisals
1
Jennifer woke to a mild pounding in her head and a faint stinging in her arm. She opened her lids to darkness as the memories came flooding in. She’d done her job. She was in hands of the enemy.
“She’s awake.”
The voice was hard and cold, yet eager for the torture to begin. Jennifer sucked in a tight breath to calm herself. They’d known this would be the worst part. If she could get through this, she would be okay.
“Remove the blindfold. Not the gag.”
Jennifer realized she hadn’t been able to feel the gag or recognize the blindfold and felt a tremor of panic. Was she drugged?
“While you were out we gave you a mild sedative.”
That hard voice again, controlled, ruthless, and excited by his job. Great, Jennifer thought, blinking to clear the fog.
“Will it make me tell the truth?” she asked, seeing shadows moving, but not in clarity.
“It’ll let you last longer.”
Jennifer swallowed. “She made me come in. I told her I couldn’t do it.”
“I don’t believe you, my sweetling.”
That tone was dangerous, Jennifer realized. When her captor’s voice became compassionate, pain was coming.
“I’m sorry–”
The punch to her gut drove the contents out. She puked harshly, struggling to breathe.
“Please,” she gasped out. “Had a baby!”
The second hit took all the air from her lungs and Jennifer sagged against her bonds, face turning purple.
“That’s enough for the moment.” Donner came from the shadows, unimpressed with the spy sent to kill him. “You’re a decoy? From what?”
Jennifer, who still hadn’t gotten a lungful of air, passed out.
“Make sure she comes around,” Donner instructed. “No more damage until I’m ready for it.”
“Yes, sir,” Louis answered. He slapped Jennifer on the back.
Her lungs expanded as she gasped in air and her color slowly returned to normal.
Louis settled into a chair in the shadows as Donner left, leering at the naked girl hanging from ropes around dusty shed beams. She belonged to the Major right now. When Donner traded up, Louis would be there to have his turn. All these sessions were foreplay, like in Canada.
Jennifer swam through the fog slowly, tending her injuries, strengthening her determination. Conner would come soon and then they would teach these men not to underestimate people based on age. The young were often more dangerous than their elders because they lacked a fear of death.
Her stomach throbbed from the punches. Jennifer stayed in the fog as long as she could. They’d estimated she would have to tough out at least two interrogation sessions, maybe three before Conner could get to her. If it reached three, things were bound to get uglier than she could tolerate. Angela had told her to destroy them all.
When Jennifer had asked why the descendants simply didn’t do that anyway and end the war, Angela’s answer had been haunting.
“Because we’ll tip the balance again and become hunted creatures by both sides. No one can ever know how powerful we really are.”
“But so many of them will die,” Jennifer had protested, “Wouldn’t it be better for the descendants to sacrifice themselves instead?”
“No. There would never be peace after that. Humans will force us to fight for them, to destroy their neighbors. We will become corrupt.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Imagine two towns. One member has a fistfight with someone from the neighboring town and wins. In retaliation, that neighboring townsman kills the son of the first man. As the first man’s neighbor, wouldn’t you go to war to eliminate such a person?”
Jennifer hadn’t been sure and Angela had finished it off.
“Imagine now that both towns are at each other’s throats over water rights or land for grazing and farming, and someone uses a descendant’s powers. Even for protection, you now have an entirely new war, one where magic is the weapon and domination becomes the goal.”
It was a bleak picture. Jennifer had agreed that letting the descendants go willy-nilly with their gifts was a bad idea.
“I know you can hear me.”
The cold, eager voice brought Jennifer back to her own reality and she grunted in hatred, but didn’t give him words. She was still savoring her breaths.
“You should tell him everything you know, beg to be his whore. He might not hurt you as much that way.”
Jennifer already understood what drove Louis. She’d spent enough time with a psychopath to recognize one and she let herself cry, but still didn’t talk to him. He might get the chance to rape her that he longing for. She’d known that could happen coming in. It didn’t stop the terror or the longing to kill him instead.
2
Donner left the shed to find Philips waiting for him. The rest of the convoy was settling in for the night. Campfires and tents were being worked on for a half mile in every direction.
“We’re missing a scouting team and a spotter set.”
Donner motioned for the cook to bring him his tray and sat down on a stump to eat. “So?”
Philips was confused. “Do you want us to go search for them?” he asked.
“No. They’re dead,” Donner announced. “Or AWOL. Either way, we don’t split our forces to search for missing men.”
“Yes, sir,” Philips answered, going to tell their teams that more men had been lost under Donner’s command.
Louis, who had followed Donner, asked his boss, “Is that wise, sir?”
“No, but I need them to understand that I won’t go searching for them. They’ll stick closer that way.”
“What about the girl?”
“What about her?” Donner snapped. “Got a soft spot?”
“The men want her when you’re done, is all.”
“She won’t be passed around. She’s bait.”
“Sir?”
Donner waved him away, and ate his MRE. Jennifer was put here for a reason. After he discovered what that was, Donner intended to use her to draw out the man she’d screamed for. When descendants chose a protector, it was almost always someone in a position of power. That was what Donner needed to bring this Safe Haven to its knees. They thought they were clever, but he knew what made the good ones tick and how to use it against them. They didn’t stand a chance.
Philips motioned his driver to get them moving and the young man did, not quite smirking.
“What’s the joke, private?” Philips barked.
“Nothing, sir,” the man answered. “Just happy to be moving,”
Philips frowned. “I though Donavan had this post.”
His driver shrugged. “Couldn’t find him at roll call. Captain Louis assigned me.”
Philips made a mental note to verify that and then resumed studying his conversation with the Major.
His driver watched him in the mirror, blue eyes flashing excitedly.
3
Sam adjusted the sight on her rifle, loving the feel of power that came with the motion. At some point during this hell, she would get to fire this weapon at live men and make them dead.
The enemy was unfurling below her, one of a few camps that Angela had assumed would spring up. Sam watched the tiny men flit to and fro on their chores, unaware that she could take any of them out with a single short jerk.
Sam removed her finger from the trigger it had been absently caressing. She wasn’t supposed to enjoy her role. Causing death was awful, and yet, she couldn’t wait for it to start. To her mind, the coming men were Melvin and Henry, Caesar, and more politicians who would destroy the world all over again. Samantha would do anything to keep that from happening, to ensure that Angela’s dream was birthed here.
It was fascinating to watch the insulated aluminum rooms being setup by the soldiers. They unloaded and ‘unfolded’ the portable military she
lters in less than twenty minutes. It would have been faster if not for them being dropped in the center of the road so they had to be dragged into the correct position. The fold out shelters weren’t bulletproof, though and Sam wasn’t worried. The rifle she was using would pierce that frame like a hot knife going through butter.
Samantha surveyed the camp, marking down times for things like meals and shift changes. She would pass the information when she got her next resupply. She expected it to be Neil or Jeremy by then. Word would have spread among the senior Eagles on the locations of their women. Angela had also counted on that. Sam was sure she’d have company before too long. Right now, she didn’t want any. Being alone for the start of this was right.
You’re not alone.
Samantha chose to make sure her sights were lined up, rather than to respond. It was odd to suddenly have a voice in her head after all these years, reading her memories and thoughts.
The scope’s optics gave her a detailed view and Samantha kept the crosshairs on that larger center tent, sure that’s where the boss would be. She didn’t have a name for her target or even a rank, no photo to work from or even a hint of who he was, but Sam would know him when he appeared. No matter how organized, a leader had to come out of cover eventually to do normal governing.
“You should have picked our side,” Sam whispered roughly. “You brought this on yourselves.”
4
Zack tossed the last shovel of dirt onto the mound. They would be finished with this site in the next half hour and then they could head for Safe Haven, showers, and their tents. Today had been just as exhausting as yesterday had.
Zack thought about the future moment that would take place here, but didn’t smile even though his team was currently joking about it. This had once been a depot. Angela was counting on Donner coming here to supply his army. When they arrived, they would find more than bags and bullets.
“We good here?” Kevin asked. “I’m sending an update.”